The Ivory Coast provides more than 40 percent of the world’s cocoa—Ghana supplies much of the rest—and this summer’s operation, run by the international police organization Interpol, suggests that child labor in both countries remains widespread. The U.S. State Department has estimated that more than 109,000 children in the Ivory Coast’s cocoa industry work under the WFCL and that some 10,000 more are victims of human trafficking and enslavement.

Ranging in age from 11 to 16, the rescued children were discovered “working under extreme conditions, forced to carry massive loads, seriously jeopardizing their health,” according to Interpol. They told interviewers they were unaware that what was happening to them was illegal, and that they regularly worked 12 hours a day and received no salary or education.